20 Mother's Day Gifts Mom Will Love and Weekly Block Party Link-Up

Ruffled Flower Wreath | Hugs and Kisses Jar | Homemade Oatmeal Soap | 10-Minute Aromatherapy Pillow | Pallet and Scrap Wood DIY Picture Frames | Tulip Bouquet | Double Finger Print Heart Necklace | DIY Tiered Serving Tray | Herb Container Garden | Stenciled Leather Coasters | Tin Cup Succulent Garden | Mother's Day Interview Printable | Etched Glass Vase | Antique Textile Spool Jewelry Tree |  DIY Blanket Ladder | Etched Glass Bottle | Family Tree Faux Embroidery | Spring Handprint Art | DIY Serving Tray | Upcycled Hanging Vases 

It's time for another Block Party hosted by Making the World Cuter | Rae Gun Ramblings | Keeping It Simple Crafts | Pieces By Polly!

  Polly here from Pieces by Polly as your host for this week.   Spring is here in my part of the country which means it's time to start thinking about Mother's Day Gifts.  

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Repost: To all you Other Mothers

If you've been a reader for a long time, you might recognize this post...I wrote it two years ago...and reposted it last year...and I'm reposting it again this year, because I know how hard Mother's Day can be for some people and I want all you "other mothers" out there to know you are thought of and loved...

So here's to all you amazing Other Mothers...

...I'm thinking of you.

Especially my kids' birthmoms...who gave me the ultimate gift...their most precious treasure...

I'm so glad they're a part of my life and my kids' lives.

I'm thinking of all you other birthmoms out there who get to see or hear from your child...

And I'm thinking of you birthmoms who wonder...where they are and who they've become...

I'm thinking of you who considered adoption and chose to single parent.  And I wonder how that little baby is...

I'm thinking of all you foster moms...

And single moms...

And moms who have angel babies waiting for you in Heaven...

And all you who desperately want to be moms, but aren't yet...

And all you moms who love your children who struggle...

Mother's Day used to be hard for me.  Not just because I didn't have kids...but because I didn't know if I would ever have kids. 

Seven Eight Nine years ago for Mother's Day, Eric and I told our parents that we had started paperwork to become approved for adoption.  Six Seven Eight years ago, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mom.

I.   AM.   SO.   BLESSED. 

If Mother's Day is hard for you...I'm sending a hug...and thinking of you. 

Repost: Other Mothers

With the move and the new baby, I've been a major slacker this year for Mothers' Day.  I haven't gotten anything ready for my kids' birthmoms...or for my mom (who's also celebrating her birthday today) or my mother-in-law...or any of the other wonderful mom figures in my life.

And I also don't have an inspiring Mothers' Day post either...so I thought I'd go ahead and repost the one I did for last year, because even though I've been a mom for the past 7 Mothers' Days I remember how hard Mothers' Day was when we didn't have our kids yet...

So here's to all you amazing Other Mothers...

...I'm thinking of you.

Especially my kids' birthmoms...who gave me the ultimate gift...their most precious treasure...

I'm so glad they're a part of my life and my kids' lives.

I'm thinking of all you other birthmoms out there who get to see or hear from your child...

And I'm thinking of you birthmoms who wonder...where they are and who they've become...

I'm thinking of you who considered adoption and chose to single parent.  And I wonder how that little baby is...

I'm thinking of all you foster moms...

And single moms...

And moms who have angel babies waiting for you in Heaven...

And all you who desperately want to be moms, but aren't yet...

And all you moms who love your children who struggle...

Mother's Day used to be hard for me.  Not just because I didn't have kids...but because I didn't know if I would ever have kids. 

Seven Eight years ago for Mother's Day, Eric and I told our parents that we had started paperwork to become approved for adoption.  Six Seven years ago, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mom.

I.   AM.   SO.   BLESSED. 

If Mother's Day is hard for you...I'm sending a hug...and thinking of you. 

Family Portrait - Doodle Style {Great Father's Day Gift}

I hope you're not tired of seeing Doodle People Faux Embroidery...because I'm not tired of making it yet.  I am notoriously late (or absent entirely) with gifts.

After-Mother's Day Photo Necklace

Liz, Little Brother's birthmom, had her birthday last week.  I loved the fabric postcard that Little Brother made for her, and it was so cute that he thought of making cookies for her on his own...but I wanted to give her some a little nicer for her birthday.

I bumped into these photo tile necklaces on Not So Idle Hands while I was clicking around.  (Love that blog...although Emily doesn't post often anymore.) 

Anyway, I fell in love with the idea of making a necklace for Liz, but I didn't have any of the stuff to make them...and the nearest craft store is about 45 minutes away...so I emailed my friend Lisa of Lily and Oak to see how much she would charge to make them for me.  It turns out it's the same price as for her other pendants, and you can order one here.  Awesome.  (If you're Liz and you're reading this...I was totally willing to spend more!)

I emailed Liz to find out which pictures of Little Brother were her favorite, and ended up using this one.  Little Brother was fascinated that his picture was on it and had to open it himself.

And send it off with a kiss to Liz.

Along with a cute little handmade card.  He really can be a sweet boy.

Now I know it's past Mother's Day, but there are mother's in your life who probably have birthdays coming up.  Yes?  Or I think one of these pendants could make a fun key chain for Dad.
(Especially if it included a picture like this for him.)

(That picture in the background can be found here from Shirleen Bland's Art Studio.)

What do you think?

OTHER Mothers

...I'm thinking of you.

Especially my kids' birthmoms...who gave me the ultimate gift...their most precious treasure...

I'm so glad they're a part of my life and my kids' lives.

I'm thinking of all you other birthmoms out there who get to see or hear from your child...

And I'm thinking of you birthmoms who wonder...where they are and who they've become...

I'm thinking of you who considered adoption and chose to single parent.  And I wonder how that little baby is...

I'm thinking of all you foster moms...

And single moms...

And moms who have angel babies waiting for you in Heaven...

And all you who desperately want to be moms, but aren't yet...

And all you moms who love your children who struggle...

Mother's Day used to be hard for me.  Not just because I didn't have kids...but because I didn't know if I would ever have kids. 

Seven years ago for Mother's Day Hubby and I told our parents that we had started paperwork to become approved for adoption.  Six years ago, I celebrated my first Mother's Day as a mom.

I.   AM.   SO.   BLESSED. 

If Mother's Day is hard for you...I'm sending a hug...and thinking of you. 

Colored Freezer Paper Flower Pot Wrap - Great for Moms and Teachers!

As promised, I've got a fun and easy way to cover flower pots...a freezer paper wrap decorated by your child.  These would be great to present a Mother's Day or Teacher Appreciation gift.

I figured that our main gift for Teacher Appreciation week would be a nice letter to Firecracker's principal about a couple of her teachers, but I wanted a small gift to go along with it.  I took Firecracker down to the store and let her choose out a potted plant for each of the three teachers (classroom teacher, classroom aide, and computer teacher) that I wrote letters about.  Then I realized that I needed to do something with the pot...something easy...and something to keep the pot from making everything that touched it dirty and damp. 

That's when I decided to use freezer paper.  The plasticy side keeps slight moisture in, and I had Firecracker color on the papery side.

Add a coloring card and letter to the principal, and you've got a cute and easy personalized gift.  (I have to say it was the nice letter that Firecracker's teacher mentioned in her email...not the flower wrap...so don't skip the letter!)

It's super easy.  Here's what you'll need. I made a template to make a cover for a typical 4 in. flower pot here but you can easily make your own for a different size pot.

Cut out a 9 inch square of freezer paper.  Fold it in half with the papery side out.

You don't really need the template, but it will help your child know where they can draw so that the picture isn't lost in the folds.  Trace the template on two opposite edges of the paper side.

So that it should look like this.  (Sorry the pencil lines are light...I didn't want them to show after she was done coloring.)

Have your child draw on it.  Make sure they know which sides will end up being "up" when it goes on the pot.  (We ended up with some upside down ones.)

Put your pot in the middle of the paper.  Then put a little roll of tape in the middle of all for edges. 

Fold up each of the four sides. 

Then fold the extra paper around the edges so that your child's pictures show.

Tape securely, and trim.

That's it!

For the card, I found the image from here and just whipped up a card in Word.  If you like mine, you can download it here.